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Relish Spins
Phish cover art for Joy.
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Published: September 24, 2009
Updated: 09/23/2009 06:45 pm
Phish
Joy
Label: JEMP Records
If you like: The Grateful Dead, The Who
Song to download: "Light"
The finicky fans of Phish have never been much satisfied with the Vermont jamband's studio offerings -- if they were, they wouldn't go to such extremes to catch the band live.
Joy, the foursome's first post-reunion record, is one of the band's strongest, most self-assured albums in more than 10 years, the surest sign since the March reboot concerts in Hampton, Va., that Phish intends not just to hang around awhile, but to keep pushing onward and upward.
Will Phish-heads take notice?
It doesn't matter. Months will pass, live versions of these tracks will integrate into the two-plus hour sets, and no matter what fans think now, jubilation will eventually erupt with the first strains of "Backwards Down the Number Line," "Light," "Sugar Shack" and "Time Turns Elastic," four tunes off of Joy that stand out here as potential monsters in the Phish canon.
As a whole, Joy is grounded, unfussy and songwriting-driven. This album is remarkable for its clarity and focus; through multiple listens, individual instruments shine within the intricate weave, a credit to producer Steve Lillywhite, who might otherwise have been tempted to bog down its sprightly tracks with an unnecessary jumble of sonic layers.
Instead, they crackle with an in-the-room presence, like the propulsive "Light," a whirling, ecstatic bliss-out, at once a driving rocker in the vein of The Who (circa Quadrophenia) -- and vehicle for the most blindingly brilliant notes of vocal harmony that Phish has ever sung.
Pitbull
Rebelution
Label: J Records
If you like: Bilingual dance rap
Song to download: "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)"
If you have been out of the rap game longer than, oh, about 10 minutes, the next thing you do is invariably called a comeback. This is where Miami-based Pitbull posits himself, out to prove he still a hit-maker with his latest album Rebelution.
Hits are measured in a multitude of ways, but suffice it to say that this is a strong return to form for Mr. 305. It's rap-infused dance music, with Pitbull's signature bilingual (Spanish and English) blend of lyrics.
"Shut It Down (featuring Akon)" and "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" are guaranteed floor fillers. Heavy beats, sexy hooks and Pitbull's snappy rap approach are a winning formula. "R.I.P. are Big and Pac/ That he's not but damn he's hot," Pitbull raps about Pitbull, on "I Know You Want Me," serving notice not to bury his career just yet.
There's no "Toma" here, his 2004 hit. But what is on Rebelution is solid and should keep Pitbull tracks on the dance floor for years.
Living Colour
The Chair in the Doorway
Label: Megaforce
If you like: Metallica, Kurt Cobain
Song to download: "Bless Those"
Living Colour chose a location near Prague to record its first studio album in five years, yet decided against including any Czech folk or Dvorak covers on The Chair in the Doorway.
That's a surprise, because as hard-rock bands go, Living Colour has always displayed an unusual ability to mix many influences. The musical blender is at work again on Doorway, an album that rivals the New York quartet's seminal early work 20 years ago.
Living Colour snarls like Metallica on "Out Of Mind," wallows in Seattle sludge on "DecaDance" and does a flashback on "Not Tomorrow," which would fit -- and stand out -- on the Woodstock soundtrack. The lyrics borrow from the blues as Corey Glover sings of heaven on fire and flames in his head.
An unlisted 12th track with unprintable lyrics is hilarious R-rated power pop unlike anything the band has done before, and there are the more familiar references to R&B.
The Associated Press
Ace Frehley
Anomaly
Label: Bronx Born
If you like: Kiss, only better
Song to download: "Foxy And Free"
½
Guns 'N' Roses has nothing on Ace Frehley when it comes to lengthy album delays. The 17 years it took to finish Chinese Democracy was generally considered the gold standard of rock 'n' roll procrastination.
Until now.
Frehley, the former Kiss guitarist, took 20 years to finish Anomaly, his fourth solo studio album and first since 1989's Trouble Walkin'.
And yes, it was worth the wait.
In between a five-year Kiss reunion and recurring battles with the bottle, Frehley picked away at his new album, emerging with a disc that evokes the spirit and fire of his self-titled 1978 solo album. That disc was the most successful of the four Kiss solo albums that were simultaneously released, and the only one to spawn a hit single in "New York Groove."
Anomaly shows why Frehley is one of the most influential guitarists in rock history -- and why Kiss remains a pale imitation without him.
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